W.H. staffers depart for Harvard

A handful of aides to President Barack Obama are trading their White House credentials for a life of textbooks and exams at their boss’s alma mater, Harvard Law School.

About a half-dozen staffers will begin at the premier law school this fall, bringing a rare skill set, a golden Rolodex and tales of the corridors of power to Harvard Yard. The exodus of the younger White House staffers marks the first major departure of junior aides in the Obama administration.

Story Continued Below

Among those leaving are Katie Johnson, who until last week served as Obama’s personal secretary, and Eric Lesser, who worked for then-senior adviser David Axelrod before becoming an assistant to Council of Economic Advisers Chairman Austan Goolsbee.

Other junior-level White House aides departing for the law school include Nick Colvin, Meryl Holt and Meg Campbell, according to administration officials. They will join former Obama aides Jake Levine and Kristin Garcia, who recently finished their first year of law school at Harvard. Another batch of students, including Bryan Jung, Kyle Watkins and Sarah Cannon, are leaving the White House for Harvard Business School, and two more, Avi Feller and Pascal Noel, will pursue their doctorates at Harvard.

“We’re all proud of these remarkable young people who’ve worked late nights and long weekends over the last several years on the campaign and in the administration,” White House deputy press secretary Jamie Smith said. “Of course, the president isn’t at all disappointed that so many of them have chosen to pursue a bright future at his alma mater, and he is grateful for their dedicated service.”

While White House aides would not specify whether the president steered his aides toward Harvard or provided references for them, they do say Obama — the first black president of the Harvard Law Review — encouraged his aides’ academic development, checking in with them periodically on the application and admissions process.

“Throughout the entire process, he’s been very supportive of all of us,” Lesser said. “He’s definitely an inspiration to me. He is someone who has lived by the idea of ‘You do what’s meaningful,’ and I’d like to follow his example. He … understands the value of education.”